Chapter Seventeen
Approaching the fire, I saw that much of the tribe was gathered about Kalou and Andoc. Andoc said something, and his statement was followed by a loud roar from the group. Everyone was very excited and there was a noticeably high level of energy. My arrival was an unexpected as well as unprecedented occurrence, one that had them stirred up like a hive of bees when you disturb their honey. The crowd noticed our arrival and silence quickly fell, broken only by a baby crying and a few young children calling out and being hushed by their parents.
Garon looked over the tribe, waiting to speak, extending the last moments of tribal life as he knew it. He was wise, and I believe that he alone understood the significance of my coming; that allowing me to stay would forever change who they were. I knew Garon did not take this decision lightly, and his hesitation caused me to hold my breath for a long moment.
Finally, with a quick glance in my direction, Garon announced the Elder's decision to the tribe. His words were immediately followed by a loud clamor of voices. As I watched the crowd I saw various emotions pass over their faces, and not everyone was happy. Andoc looked pleased, and I saw he was enjoying his new status from spending the day with me. Kalou gave me another of her disconcerting looks, and then turned away.
The Elders have accepted him. I think this is good, but I am not sure. Sometimes he scares me; I see something in his eyes that causes me not to trust him. I believe he can help us, but why is he helping; what does he want from us?
Some in the tribe were definitely bothered by this new development. I saw one group gathered off to the side, made up of several of the older men and women. They scowled and turned to each other, talking angrily. These were the people I would need to either convince of my worth, or find a way to eliminate.
I had much work ahead to change this tribe into an image that pleased me. But now that I was here I had no intention of ever looking back. My time had come.
Every man that had been in the hut with me was immediately surrounded. Their friends wanted to hear every detail of what had occurred. Still viewing me with varying degrees of apprehension, fear or wonder, most of the adults kept a respectful distance, but I was immediately surrounded by what seemed to be every child in the tribe. They gathered round me, staring with mouths wide open as they jabbered back and forth; a few brave ones going so far as to feel my clothing.
The rest of the evening passed quickly, with much discussion and friendly shouting on their part, while people stared, circling me constantly. Many people tried to converse, and I put on a good show. I was very conscious of the need to appear open and non-threatening. I did not want to give them any hint of my intentions, or let them know what I really thought of them. I wanted them to believe I was a benign friend, come to help them.
When the fire died down and the celebration slowed, Catto came to me and indicated I should follow him. We walked from the fire to one of the larger huts on the far side of the village. In the dim light cast by a small fire banked in the center of the room I saw six people sleeping on the floor, covered by fur blankets. There were several more unused piles of fur blankets scattered about the dirt floor.
When a couple of the sleepers stirred and looked at us, I realized everyone in the hut was an adult male. This must be the sleeping hut for men who hadn't taken a mate. I had noticed as we walked down the hill that there were two large huts located at opposite ends of the village. I was now in one of those huts with the men, and I guessed that the single women stayed in the other large hut.
It had been obvious at the fire that this tribe recognized the family unit. I had seen several families sitting or standing together; a man and woman along with children of varying ages, eating their meat and talking. I assumed that the families were able to live in their own hut, which would account for the larger number of small huts in the village.
Catto went over to a large pile of furs on the far side of the room. He gave me some fur blankets, and taking the others he lay down, covered himself, and promptly went to sleep. I had not slept for two days, and this had been the most intense day of my life. I suddenly realized I was exhausted, and lying down, I pulled the stinking furs over myself and immediately fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I awoke the next morning refreshed and alert. No one in the hut stirred as I lay awake, staring up at the roof. Though I had much to think about, I was distracted by the construction of the hut. Now that I had a chance to examine it more closely, I was impressed. They had used a post and beam style construction, lashing sturdy lengths of wood together with leather strips. Large bundles of grasses had then been lashed to the wood frame in an overlapping manner. This method of construction was effective, and had been used on both the walls and the roof. The only negative I could see was the lack of a smoke hole in the roof.
There was enough of an opening at the door, which was covered only by a flap of skin, as well as occasional gaps at the base of the walls to allow a draft. All that was needed was an opening at the peak of the roof, and the smoke would rise and leave through the hole.
The smoke from the fire, which smoldered in the center of the sleeping men, was irritating to the chest and eyes and was not healthy. I decided I would fix this later today; I would not sleep another night in a smoke-filled hut.
I silently slid from under my fur blankets and padded to the door. Pushing the flap aside, I stepped out into the faint early morning light. I saw no one else moving outside, but sensed I was not the only person out of the huts.
I quietly walked through the huts to the center of the village. Arriving at the fire, I could see that it was carefully banked, ready to be brought back to life. The area around the fire had been cleaned, and there were no bones or scrapes on the ground. Everything had been thrown away, I assumed into the fire. I was pleased to see this, and wondered if this was someone’s personal preference, or a tribal rule that was followed every night.
My senses told me there was more than one person about, though I still had not seen anyone. This could only mean that they were on the far side of the huts, out of my sight. I suspected that if I looked around I would find a few men that had kept watch over the village through the night.
I was curious to know what they guarded against. I felt no danger, and I had not heard or seen any sign of a bear or large cat since I entered their land. I assumed those animals must exist here, since they were needed to cull the weak and keep balance in the food chain.
We had those predators in my homeland, which was one of the reasons my brother had to watch over his flocks. Given the abundance of wild game in the forest, they had not bothered my family often; our presence was usually enough to keep them away from our fields and meadows.
When I was young a very large bear had made the mistake of trying to take my father as he walked in the forest early one morning. That bear’s huge pelt now graced the floor of our house. I had no doubt that should a bear be so unwise as to attack me, my knife would be more than enough to insure a new blanket for my hut in this village.
I coughed quietly to make my presence known to the guards, and then rounded the corner of a hut where I thought one of them might be stationed. There I found one of the men who had gone into the leader’s hut with me last night. Having heard my cough, he stood facing me with his long knife raised, but I could see he hadn't expected anything dangerous.
I smiled and quietly said good morning to him in my language. Though he did not understand my speech, he smiled back and spoke a greeting in his own language. He showed no sign of fear at my appearance, so apparently the approval of the old ones was all that was necessary to put him at ease. I hoped the rest of the villagers felt the same way.
Through a mix of his language and sign language, I let him know I was going to take a walk and would soon return. He probably assumed I needed to relieve myself, but I actually wanted a better look at the surrounding area and the valley in general. I needed a high spot where I would have a good vantage point to see the la
y of the land, so I strode off in the direction we had come from the night before.